2009 Assembly of Delegates:
Southeast Regional Representative to the Committee on Nominations

2009 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting & International Research Conference

November 12-15, 2009
The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel
The Woodlands, Texas (near Houston)

Name: Donald Richardson

Chapter Affiliation: Southern Appalachian

Biographical Information: Dr. Donald Richardson, BAS, MSc(eng), MEd, MS(Applied Math), MS (CIS), PhD (CS), PhD (ABD Math)is a life member of Sigma Xi since 1984 and the past president of Florida Institute of Technology Chapter. Currently Dr. Richardson attends meetings of the #273 Southern Appalachian Chapter of Tennessee, where he was a Visiting Professor at East Tennessee State University on a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant. He has worked in industry and academia for over 40 years. Dr. Richardson is listed in Who's Who of the World as a "Super Computer Expert". He is a 100% disabled veteran of the Vietnam War. Donald Richardson [drichard@my.fit.edu]

Name: Monte S. Willis

Present Position: Assistant Professor
Organization: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Address: Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
McAllister Heart Institute
Campus Box 7525
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
United States

Chapter Affiliation: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Candidate's Statement: I would like to be elected to the nominating committee to help serve the Sigma Xi membership with this important activity.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: Dr. Willis has served as a reviewer in April 2007 and December 2007 for the Physiology Evaluation panel that reviews Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research (GIAR) and is currently a member of the local UNC Sigma Xi Chapter.

Biographical Information: Dr. Willis is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the McAllister Heart Institute and Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. His primary research interests are in the role of the ubiquitin proteasome system in common cardiac diseases, focusing on cardiac-specific ubiquitin ligases. He is actively involved in didactic teaching in both the graduate college and school of medicine. Moreover, he is involved in training PhD and post-doctoral fellows in the Molecular and Cellular Pathology training program, the Translational Medicine program, and the Integrated Vascular Biology training program. He is currently funded by the American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant and has authored >95 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters in top tier journals such as Journal of Clinical Investigation, Circulation Research, and Circulation.

Name: Kau-Fui Vincent Wong

Present Position: Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Organization: University of Miami

Address: 1251 Memorial Drive, #209
Coral Gables, FL 33146
United States

Telephone: 305-284-3314 E-mail: kwong@miami.edu

Chapter Affiliation: University of Miami

Candidate's Statement: Leadership of an organization or division of an organization demands skill, foresight, diligence and an amiable personality. Nominating candidates and choosing these qualities in people take the same characteristics; "like begets like". As an academic reviewer of grant proposals, conference manuscripts as well as journal manuscripts, I have developed the neck to evaluate these essential qualities of people. Sigma Xi must re-energize their membership. One method is to inspire K-12 and university students to enter science, engineering, and mathematics. We help accomplish this by holding special summer classes for high school students. We also participate in regional science fairs as judges, etc.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I am an active member of the University of Miami Chapter, and have been so for many years. I am a lifelong Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a lifelong Assoc. Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a lifelong member of the American Geophysical Union. After over 20 years of volunteer work at the ASME, I am the Chairman of the Advanced Energy Division, which has over 2050 members declaring the division as their main division within ASME. I am also a member of the ASME Energy Committee, which has the charge of writing and approving ASME policy statements that are presented to the Congress and the nation. I have been Chapter Advisor for the Pi Tau Sigma, a student Honor Society of the ASME, for about 30 years.

Biographical Information: I am a tenured Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Miami, Florida. I received his PhD in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1977, and is presently the Director of the University of Miami's Mechanical Engineering Fluid and Thermal Sciences Laboratory. I have authored nearly 200 Juried or Refereed Journal Articles and Exhibitions and Other Refereed Works and Publications, and have a record of funded research. I am the sole author of four engineering textbooks, on thermodynamics and heat transfer. The heat transfer book is at the intermediate or graduate level. I have won numerous honors and awards, including the 2006 ASME Best Paper Award, and is a reviewer for the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. About fifteen years ago, I was elected to be a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). At about the same time, I was also elected to be an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; I am a lifelong membership in both societies. I have been listed in Marquis Who's Who. I have been invited for numerous talks and seminars both at the national, and international level. I am a long time supporter and member of Sigma Xi who would like the opportunity to be more involved at the national level.